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Sooty 


AU) BROS! DA HURCUm 

Pictixnaj by 

ELEADOR mUSSEyyOUDC 

JUNIOR PRESS BOOKS 

albertXwhitman 

tr' 4 - CO 

CHICAGO 






COPYRIGHT, 1935, BY ALBERT WHITMAN & COMPANY 


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LITHOGRAPHED IN THE U.S.A. 
NEWMAN-RUDOLPH 
CHICAGO 

C>CIA 87004 O' ft 


, SEP 161335 









S OOTY was a black kitten, so very tiny that when 
she ran she looked like a bit of fluff blowing about 
the floor. 

The little kitten lived with old Miss Robinson. She 
had plenty of cream and meat to eat and the softest of 
cushions to lie upon. She also had a little gray cotton 
mouse to play with. 

Sooty was an aristocratic cat, but she longed for another 
kitten or a nice little girl or boy to play with. There is 
not much fun in cream or meat or gray cotton mice when 
one has to enjoy them all alone. 

One day Sooty went out into the garden to enjoy 
the bright warm sunshine on her little fluffy back. She 
wandered lazily around for a time. Then a little puff of 
wind sent some leaves falling from the grape vine, where 
they were hanging rather loosely on their stems. 


5 


One leaf fluttered right in front of Sooty and made 
her jump. Then it slipped with the tiniest scraping sound 
along the garden path. After it went the tiny kitten. She 
leaped and frisked and chased, but she could not catch 
it. She stretched out her little paw but the leaf always 
slipped a little too far ahead for her to get it. 

My! It was a merry chase. Down the garden path, 
out at the gate and down the lane went the leaf; 
and after it went Sooty. Then up came a bigger puff 
of wind and the leaf sailed high in the air and over a 
big wall. 



Sooty sat down on her plump little haunches 
and looked up after the leaf. Then she thought 
how she would like to go over the 
wall and chase it again. But the wall 
was too high for such a tiny kitten 
to jump over. 

So Sooty washed her paws with 
her little tongue 
before turning to 
go home. 




A little puff of wind sent some leaves falling 











Before long a collie dog came wandering by. He was 
out for his afternoon walk. Sooty saw him and at once 
arched her back and raised her tail straight up in the 
air. She always felt very vexed and ruffled at the sight 
of a dog, though why she did not know, for no dog had 
ever hurt her and this one was most friendly-looking. 

The dog stopped in his walk and glanced down at 
Sooty. Sooty scratched and spat at him in a most ugly 
manner. He backed off and barked gently at her, meaning 
to show her that he merely wanted a game. Sooty was 
so terribly frightened that she turned and started to run. 

The big wall was broken by an iron gate and Sooty 
dashed in between two of the bars. She thought only of 
hiding from the dog. She darted behind the wall and 
waited, panting and trembling. When she found that the 







dog did not ** 
appear she 
began to feel 
rather ashamed of 




being so easily scared. 
She took a look around 


to see where she had gotten to. 


It seemed to be a very nice place, L 

all trees and grass. It was Farmer 
Jones’ orchard. There was a sweet smell of fruit in the 
air, for the apples and plums hung ripe on the big shady 
branches. 

Sooty did not care much for fruit but she thought the 
trees very pretty. So she went up into a big one and started 
to sharpen her claws on the bark. 

She was just thinking that she would walk around to 
see what was on the other side when a loud sound made 
her heart jump up into her throat. The sound was some¬ 
thing like a rooster’s cock-a-doodle-doo and something 
like a steam whistle. 

She looked quickly around and there was something 
she had never seen before. It was bounding along under 
the trees making straight for her. 


9 



















Now it was really only one of Farmer Jones’ little 
girls but Sooty did not know that. She had heard Miss 
Robinson and some of her friends speak about children. 
But she had never seen any. Miss Robinson did not like 
children and never invited them to her house. Besides 
Sooty had never been allowed to wander around to get 
acquainted with anyone outside. 

So she was terribly frightened as small animals always 
are at anything large and noisy that they do not under¬ 
stand. With the fur on her tail all fluffed out like a brush, 
she ran up the tree trunk and perched on a branch. She 
looked down at the little girl. Her great green eyes were 
wide open. 


The little girl whose name was Poppy danced around 
and clapped her hands and laughed. 










“Come, Dick! 
Edna! Come and 
look at this darling kitten!” 
she called. “It’s up in a 
tree and it’s so scared of 
me that you would think I was ten 
bulldogs all rolled into one.” 

Up came her brother Dick and her 
sister Edna. They all danced up and down and 
called to Sooty to come down. Their fox terrier whose 
name was Jack, came rushing up. He too ran around and 
jumped and barked until the din became so awful that 
Sooty trembled more than ever with fright. 

At last she began to realize that she was safe. The 
children laughed so much and the fox terrier wagged his 
tail so hard that only a very stupid little cat indeed could 
have continued to think them unfriendly. So she stopped 
trembling and opened her little pink mouth and said 
“Meow.” 

“Oh, the darling thing!” cried Poppy. “She wants to 
come down. Stop yelling, Edna. Be quiet Jack; and Dick, 
don’t shout so. I’m going to try to make her come.” 

So Edna and Dick kept quiet. Dick held on to Jack 
and told him to he down. Poppy called softly and sweetly, 
“Come on, kitty. Pretty kitty. Come and have some 
milk.” 


12 



Sooty said “meow” again, so very wistfully that Edna 
and Poppy both cried out, “Oh, kitty dear!” 

And Poppy added, “We just must get her down. Maybe 
she is hungry.” 

“Well,” said Dick, “one of you take hold of Jack’s 
collar and I’ll go up after her. If I call softly to her as I 
go, maybe she won’t climb any farther up into the tree.” 

Dick was always practical and sensible and the girls, 
even Edna who was a year older than he was, always 
relied very much upon him. 

So Edna took hold of Jack and held him very tight, 
and Poppy stood calling softly to Sooty while Dick began 
climbing the tree. He called as gently as he could. Boys 

are not naturally as 
gentle as girls, but 
Sooty could tell he was 
kind-hearted by his nice 
brown eyes. 









The little kitten sat quite still 












The little kitten sat quite 
still with her head on one 
side, just watching him and 
trembling a little. She trem¬ 
bled because everything 
was strange, not because 
she felt frightened any 
longer. 

Dick reached her and 
lifted her from the branch 
by her neck. This is the 
best way of lifting a small 
kitten. 

She spread out her claws and felt very scared indeed. 
Poor Sooty trembled like a leaf and tried hard to escape 
as he swung her down toward him. When he put her against 
his coat she clung so tightly that she ran her claws into 
his skin. 

“Ouch! I’m not a pin cushion, kitty,” said Dick. 

Below him the girls laughed because they always thought 
that everything their brother said was very wonderful 
and clever. 

Dick climbed carefully down. He managed cleverly 
with one hand while he held Sooty with the other. 



15 



He had hardly set foot 
on the ground before 
Poppy had jumped toward him and 
taken the clinging kitten from his 
coat and clasped her lovingly in her 
arms. 

In her eagerness, Edna forgot to 
hold Jack any longer. He came leap¬ 
ing and barking and jumping so 
roughly that he nearly knocked 
Poppy down. Poor Sooty was almost 
scared to death. 

But Poppy held the kitten high 
up in the air over her head to keep 
her out of Jack’s reach and she got her wrist scratched by 
Sooty’s little claws. 



Then Dick caught Jack again and held him tight; while 
the girls petted and stroked the frightened kitten until she 
was quite calm again. They took her through the orchard 
and across the farm yard where the hens were clucking 
•and the turkey strutting around in the mellow sunshine of 
that late summer afternoon. 


Dick had taken Jack into the side yard so that he would 
not again frighten the kitten. 


16 



“Look, look, Mummy!” cried the little girls as they 
hurried into the big farm kitchen, eager to show Mother 
their treasure. Children who have good mothers always 
want to share all their pleasures with them as well as to 
tell them about their troubles. 

Mother was making biscuits for supper, while Leah, 
the maid, was ironing at the other end of the room. 

“Why, what a sweet little kitten! It is like a little black 
gnome,” said Mother as she stroked Sooty’s soft fur. 
“Where did you find her?” 

“She was climbing a tree in the 
orchard,” said Edna. “Dick got her 
down. My, but she was scared!” 

“Lor’ mum,” put in Leah, “that’s 
old Miss Robinson’s kitten. I saw it at 
her house when I took the 
eggs over last Monday.” 

The children knew about 
Miss Robinson and how 
very particular she was 
about everything. 

Mother was sure that 
Miss Robinson would be 
worried about Sooty. 




















“Well,” said Mother, “when we have given her a bit 
of meat and a saucer of milk, you girls and Dick can take 
her back to Miss Robinson.” 

“Oh!” cried Poppy. “Can’t we keep her and play with 
her just a little bit?” 

“Well,” said Mother, “just for a little while, but not 
for long. Miss Robinson will be hunting and hunting for 
her and thinking that perhaps something has happened 
to her.” 

So they gave Sooty some meat and a litde milk which 
she enjoyed very much. Then they played with her. This 
she enjoyed even more because little animals are like little 
children and like to have companions to share their games 
and pleasures. 


19 































Then the girls called Dick and Jack, and all of them 
took Sooty back along the lane to Miss Robinson who 
hugged and kissed Sooty and thanked the children very 
heartily for taking such good care of her. 

Miss Robinson asked them to come in, but she looked 
so anxiously from their dirty boots to her spotless carpet 
that they politely said, “No thank you.” They had heard 
Leah speak a lot about how particular Miss Robinson was. 

So Edna and Poppy asked her if they might call some 
day and see Sooty again. They went home quite happy 
when she said that they could. 

In the meantime the three children eagerly awaited 
the time when they could return to see little Sooty 
once more. 


20 






In about a week they called on Miss Robinson who 
gave them cake and fruit punch in the garden. She was 
afraid they might drop a crumb on her carpet if she took 
them indoors. 

Sooty was so happy that she tried to follow them home 
when it was time for them to go. 

One day when Sooty had not seen the children for 
several days, she ran away the very moment that Miss 
Robinson let her out for her morning airing. 

Just as soon as Sooty was away from the house 
she went directly to Farmer Jones’ house to see her 
friends. 

Sooty had grown to love the children so much that she 
could not bear to be away from them. 



21 




Miss Robinson gave them cake and fruit punch 


0 c * 
















Miss Robinson guessed where she had gone the moment 
she missed her from the lawn. Feeling rather vexed, she went 
up the lane to Farmer Jones’ house. She told Mrs. Jones 
rather crossly that she liked to keep her kitten at home. 

“Well, Miss Robinson,” said Mrs. Jones gently, “it is only 
natural that she should like to be with the children. Kittens 
have to have companions you know, just like people. Why 
don’t you get another kitten for Sooty to play with? Then 
maybe she would stay at home.” 

But Miss Robinson said she thought that it would be too 
much work for her to look after two kittens. Then she picked 
up Sooty and took her home alone. 

The very next day when Miss Robinson opened the door 
to take her letters from the mailman, out ran the kitten again. 

Again Sooty knew just where she wanted to go as soon 
as she was free. 


23 

















She went straight to Farmer Jones’ house. When Miss 
Robinson, very cross and annoyed, went over after her, 
Sooty ran off to the orchard and climbed up a tree. She 
climbed so high that even Dick could not get to her. 


'077772227 


The children called and called and Miss Robinson was 
very angry. Mother and the children 
all felt very much inclined to laugh to 
think what a lot of trouble one tiny 
kitten was giving. 

Soon the darkness began to come. 
Mother asked Miss Robinson to stay to 
supper and promised that Farmer 
Jones would try to get Sooty down 
when he came home about 
eight o’clock. 

When it was quite dark 
they all called and called 
again. But Sooty just answer¬ 
ed “meow” to let them know 
that she was still there. They 
could see her big eyes, gleam¬ 
ing yellow, high up in the 
branches. Poppy said she was 
sure that she could see a 
wicked smile in them. 









But Sooty stayed up in the tree all night, and poor Miss 
Robinson had to go home without the kitten. All night she 
worried and worried, fearing that Sooty would fall asleep 
in the tree and perhaps tumble out and be hurt. 

Miss Robinson thought too how ungrateful Sooty was to 
run away like that when she was given such lovely food and 
so much petting and such a beautiful bed at home. 

In the morning Sooty had to come down because she 
was so hungry. When the Jones children had taken her 
back to Miss Robinson, she said that she would lock up the 
kitten to teach her to stay at home. The children felt very 
sorry but they could do nothing about it. 

So back through the orchard the three children 
went to their home, wondering how Sooty was going to 
get along. 


25 






Sooty ran off and climbed up a tree 











So Sooty 
was put in 
the attic 
where she could not 
come downstairs at 
all. Miss Robinson 
gave her plenty to eat 
and drink and a nice 
cushion to he on, but 
she did not pet her as 
much as usual. She hoped Sooty would feel 
that she had been naughty and would not = 

try to run away again. 

Poor Sooty stayed in the attic for a whole 
week, a very long time for a kitten. After the 
first two or three days she wouldn’t eat her food or drink 
her milk. Miss Robinson said that she was just s ulki ng, 

Soon however Sooty became quite sick. Her little pink 
nose was very hot, and all she would do was to he on the 
cool attic floor and pant. 

Then Miss Robinson called in Farmer Jones who under¬ 
stood quite a lot about animals. He looked at poor Sooty 
and felt her and shook his head. 



27 


















“She’s a very sick cat, ma’am,” he said. “I should take 
her into the garden and let her stay in the fresh air. I’ll go 
home and send my boy Dick down with some herb medicine 
for her.” 

And home he went, feeling very sorry for poor Sooty and 
thinking what a sad thing it was to be an animal who had 
to belong to a selfish person like Miss Robinson. 

Farmer Jones told his family how sick Sooty was and the 
children were so sorry that Edna and Poppy cried. Even 
Dick felt a big lump in his throat. When the medicine was 
made, the little girls begged their mother to let them walk 
over to Miss Robinson’s with their brother. 

“Just to see her,” Edna said. 

“Couldn’t we, Mother?” begged Poppy. “We won’t tease 
her or annoy Miss Robinson, and maybe Sooty will feel 
better if we just pet her and tell her how much we love her.” 

“Yes, let them go,” said Farmer Jones who knew just 
how they were feeling. 


28 







Miss Robinson opened the door for the children and 
asked them all to come in. She felt so sad and worried about 
Sooty that she did not remember to ask them if their shoes 
were clean. 

“Here’s the medicine,” Dick said. 

“Oh please, can’t we see Sooty?” cried Poppy and Edna 
together. “We won’t worry her and—” 

“She is in the garden,” said Miss Robinson, wiping her 
eyes. “I am afraid it will worry her to see you. She is so very 
sick. I can’t get her to eat a thing.” 

“Oh,” said Poppy, “let me try to feed her. She often 
came on my lap at home and ate bits of meat out of my 
fingers.” 
















So Poppy hurried out to the back lawn and before one 
second had passed, she had Sooty on her lap while Edna 
and Dick looked on. They both knew better than to start 
petting her at once. Miss Robinson noticed this with some 
surprise. 

“Dear little Sooty,” said Poppy softly. “We have come 
to see you. Look at us, Sooty.” 

And Sooty snuggled down into Poppy’s arms and started 
to purr like a little boiling pot. Dick gave her the herb 
medicine with a little glass dropper, and Miss Robinson 
brought out some bread and milk. 

Sooty ate it out of Poppy’s fingers and seemed so much 
better that Miss Robinson did what she had never done 
before. She kissed all the children and asked them to stay 
to supper. Dick didn’t enjoy the kiss much, but he thought 
the supper was just wonderful. 

Father came down to fetch them when he found how late 
it was getting and he said that Sooty was already lots better. 


30 








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“Dear little Sooty, we have come to see you.” 

















Miss Robinson asked the children to come again the next 
day. Indeed they came every day until Sooty was quite well. 

And so Miss Robinson found that children weren’t any¬ 
thing to be afraid of after all; and that if she wanted to 
make a little animal healthy and happy and to have it love 
her, she must let it have something that it likes and not 
only what she herself wanted it to have. 

Certain it is that Sooty grew very fond of Miss Robinson. 
And the children, even Dick, learned to like her too. Leah 
often said that Miss Robinson seemed much happier than 
she had ever been before because the children and Sooty 
kept her too alive to let her worry over her carpets. 



























































